Davenport announced she was leaving UC for Knoxville in November 2016 and started serving as UT chancellor in March 2017. She was the highest-paid chancellor in UT's history and the first woman to hold that position.

UT President Joe DiPietro outlined his concerns with Davenport in a scathing May 2 letter, which included details of her lack of organization, poor communication and transactional business skills and her failure to accept responsibilities of the mistakes of subordinates.

Despite her "very poor" communication skills, Davenport will be retained as tenured faculty in the College of Communication and Information. She'll earn $1.7 million over four years in that role.

Leaders at UC saw Davenport in a different light during her time in Cincinnati. She came to UC in 2013 as the chief academic officer and was later named the interim president with a unanimous vote by the board of trustees.

Former UC Board of Trustees Chair Rob Richardson Jr. extended "heartfelt thanks for her countless contributions to the University of Cincinnati" at the time. He previously said "from faculty hiring to student success to inclusive excellence, Dr. Davenport has positioned UC extremely well for our next century of success."

Social media reactions

This comes as quite a shock to all. Chancellor Davenport brought unity, knowledge, and strength to our campus. We will continue to support her as she has supported us. https://t.co/uUBaiRIlez

Chancellor Beverly Davenport actually addressed student concerns and needs unlike many administrators we have had in the past. Her firing is just putting us back on the path away from “students first”. #StandWithDav

There is no one quite like, Chancellor Beverly Davenport. She loves this University so much and cares about EVERY student. I’m thankful for her and her friendship. COME to Andy Holt Tower to show your SUPPORT for her at 2:30. She stands for us, We stand for her. #MyChancellorpic.twitter.com/QUURVBCwp5